Pin setting mechanism for bowling alleys



May l, 1951 s. A. FRYE 2,550,919

PIN SETTINGMECHANISM FOR BOWLING ALLEYS Filed Feb, 12, 1945 4 sheets-sheet 1 Sanders 52.22919 I May l, 1951 s. A. FRYE PIN SETTING MEcHANrsM FOR BOWLING ALLEYs Filed Feb. 12, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 1, 11951 s. A. FRYE N 2,550,919

PIN SETTING MECHANISM FOR BOWLING ALLEYS Filed Feb. l2, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Suma/rdm @www May 1, 1951 s. A. FRYE 2,550,919

PIN SETTING MECHANISM FOR BOWLING ALLEYS mdemrye Patented May 1, 1951 PIN SETTING MECHANISM FOR BOWLING ALLEYS Sanders A.. Frye, Westerville, Ohio, assigner, by mesne assignments, to American Machine and Foundry Company, Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application February 12, 1945, Serial N o. 577,367

' This inventionrelates to pin-setting apparatus for bowling alleys, and has for its primary object to provide 'improved means for depositing locvwlingk pins on the pin-receiving area of an associated alley in standing and properly spaced relative ord-er adaptable for bowling play.

'It is another object of the invention to provide pin-setting apparatus comprisinga horizontally and vertically movable frame supported for movement above the playing surface of a bowling alley adjacent to its pin-receiving area,` the frame being provided with holders disposed in spaced relation and adapted for the removable reception of bowling pins, pivoted means being provided for retaining the pins within said holders until the pins have been lowered by the frame into engagement with the alley surface, whereby upon such -engagement the retaining means are actuated to release the pins so that upon subsequent eleva-v tionv of the frame, the pins will be left standing inproperly spaced order on the alley surface.

' A'further object of the invention is to provide bowling pin-setting or positioning apparatus adaptable vfor use as a component unit of an automatic pin-handling system in which the need for manual attendants is dispensed with in the operations of removing fallen pins from the alley and restoring upright pins thereto. In this respect, the present application is companion to the disclosures contained in my prior copending application, Serial No. 544,381 filed. July 11, 1944, now Patent No. 2,530,385 issued November 21, 1950, forming a continuation-impart thereof.

-V For a further understanding of the invention, refer-ence is to be had to the following description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a topplan View of 4the pin-setting apparatus ,for bowling A.alleys constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig, ,2 is a side elevational view of the Ipin-setting apparatus, the carrier frame being shown in full lines in its elevated positionand in broken lines in its lowered position, parts of the associated bowling alley being shown in vertical section;

Fig. 3 isl a vertical transverse sectional view taken through the pin-setting apparatus and the associated bowling alley, the carrier frame `loe-7 ing'shown in its lower-ed position, aswhen depositing bowling pins on the alley surface;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical section on a larger scale through the carrier frame, of.r the apparatufsandr disclosing one of the tubular pinreceiving receptacles and the associatedlpivotallyjmounted pin-retaining and releasing jaws, theA 5 Claims. (Cl. 273-42) 2 latterbeing shown in their pin-retaining positions;

Fig. 5 is a similar View with the jaws disclosed in their pin-re1easing positions;

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional' view illustrating spring-pressed means for retaining the jawsin their diferent positions of operation. vL

The bowling pin-setting or spotting apparatus constituting the present invention is adapted primarily for use in conjunction with automatic pinhandling systems which dispense with the services of manual attendants now employed in bowling establishments. The present invention, however, is concerned primarily with the pin-setting or spotting mechanism of such a system.

Therefore, the present disclosure is limited to,

the pin-setting rapparatus per se without reference to other associated mechanisms, such as pin gathering devices, and raising and lowering mechanisms for handling standing pins which remain on an alley surface following the striking of a group of such pins with a rolled ball, although it Will be understood that the present invention is adapted for use in conjunction with such associated mechanisms.

l In the drawings, the numeral I designates the pin-receiving region of a standard bowling alley, the alley being formed, as usual, to provide the hard wood flooring 2 suitably supported on base members 3. The end of the alley terminates in a pit 4, in the bottom of which may be arranged an endless conveyor 5 to conduct pins removed from the alley to the elevator of a pin-gathering mechanism, not shown: At each side of the flooring 2, there may be provided the usual ball gutters S and, adjacent to the region I, the alley is provided with upstanding side boards 1.

Mounted upon the upper` edges of the side boards 'I are stationary, horizontally disposed tracks 8, the vlatter being formed with open-sided channels 9. Movably received within these channels are rollers Ill which are. mounted on the lower ends of brackets I I secured to and depending from a horizontallypositioned and slidable bed plate or frame I2. This plate or frame is shiftable longitudinally of the channels provided in the tracks 8 in order to bring the pin-setting ap paratus, forming the present invention, intov and out of vertical registration with the pin-receiv ing region of the bowling alley vand also, when shifted, to bring the pin raising, and lowering mechanism set forth in my aforesaid application, into and out of registration with'the region. I.

The operating cylinder for said pin raising and lowering mechanism is mountedon'thebed plate,

as at I3. The cylinder is provided internally with a fluid actuated piston which effects the reciproeation of an externally projecting piston rod I4. In the outer end of this rod, there is connected a chain I5 which passes over a sprocket provided on a transversely extending horizontally disposed shaft I5. This shaft is journaled for rotation in bearings I1 provided at the extreme forward edge of the bed plate I2. The shaft i-i carries additional sprockets over which are trained chains I8, and the outer or lower ends of these chains are connected with the frame I9 of the pin raising and lowering mechanism. This mechanism has been set forth in detail in my aforesaid application, Serial No. 544,381, and since it does not enter directly into the structural features of the present invention, except for its mounting on the bed plate I2, a more extended explanation thereof has been accordingly omitted.

Mounted on the bed plate I2 on the opposite side thereof withrespect to theA cylinder i3 is a second fluid-pressure cylinder 26. This cylinder carries a slidable internally positioned piston having connected therewith an externally projecting piston rod 2l. To the outer end of this rod, there is connected as at 22 the inner end of a sprocket chain 23. The intermediate portions of this chain are first directed to pass under a roller 24 carried by a bracket 25 secured to the bed plate. From the roller 24, the chain 23 passes around a sprocket 26 fixed upon one end 'of a horizontally disposed and transversely extending shaft 21. `The opposite ends of this shaft are journaled in bearings provided in brackets 28 secured to the bed plate I2 adjacent to the rear end thereof. The outer end of the chain 23 is connected as at 29 with the sprocket 26, so that as the piston in the cylinder is reciprocated, rotary motion is imparted to the shaft 21.

f Fixed to the ends of the shaft 21 are additional sprockets 30 which have connected there- -with the inner ends of a plurality of sprocket chains 3l and 32. The pair of chains indicated at 3| depend vertically from their sprockets 30, -while the pair of chains indicated at 32 extend forwardly and horizontally from their sprockets 30 above the bed plate and have their intermediate portions passed around rollers 33 which arev carried by brackets 34 mounted on the bed plate and from which rollers the chains 32 depend through openings provided in the bed plate.

The lower depending ends of the chains 3l and 32 `are connected with the upper ends of a plurality of screw bolts 35 held by nuts 3G in stationary connection with a carrier frame 31 arranged horizontally below the bed plate I2. Consideration will disclose that when the piston in the cylinder 20 is reciprocated, rotary motion will beimparted to the shaft 21 by the chain 23, and the direction of rotation of the shaft will be determined by the direction of reciprocation of the piston in the cylinder 20. As the shaft 21 rotates, the carrier frame 31 will be raised or lowered by the operation of the chains 3| and 32 which pass over the sprockets 30 and have their lower outer ends connected with the carrier frame.

In Fig. 2, the bed plate and the carrier frame have been shown in their retracted positions provided for the loading of pins into holding means therefor provided on the ycarrier frame. When the bed plate is reciprocated' bodily in a forward direction, the carrierA frame will then be located over thepin-receiving region I of the bowling alley. When the bed plate is so positioned, the carrier frame is lowered to assume the dotted line position disclosed in Fig. 2, so that the howling pins carried thereby may be deposited in properly spaced relative order on the region I. Following this operation, the carrier frame is again elevated and the bed plate retracted, leaving the bowling pins standing on the region I and in position for bowling play The carrier panel or frame is formed with a multiplicity of relatively spaced triangularly arranged openings 38 in which are positioned and secured a plurality of tubular, open-ended, pin receptacles 39, the inner diameter of each of which is slightly in excess of the maximum diameter of the belly portions of bowling pins 43 which the receptacles are adapted to receive. Any suitable mechanism may be provided for positioning the pins 4I] in the receptacles 39 with the bases of the pins disposed downwardly, orthe pins may be; inserted by hand into said receptacles; The receptacles 39 are fastened, as at 4 I, to the upper surfaces of the carrier panel or frame 31, and when the latter is in its'elevated position, as shown in Fig. 4, the receptacles 39 occupy openings 42 provided in the bed plate I2.

To hold the bowlingpins within the receptacles 39 until such pins are deposited -on the region I of the alley, the upper surface of the carrier frame, adjacent to each of the receptacles, is provided with spa-ced brackets 43. These brackets for each receptacle pivotally support, as at 44, a pair of jaw members 45. The latter are mounted for rocking movement in the openings 38 of the carrier frame and at the lower ends thereof are formed with pin-gripping yokes 46. The upper ends of the jaw members are formed with laterally projecting horizontally disposed extensions 41 which are arranged between the brackets 43. When the carrier frame is in its elevated position, the upper surfaces of the extensions 41 contact the lower ends of vertically adjustable screws 48 carried by the bed plate I2. By so contacting the screws 48, the yokes 46 of said jaw members are maintained in gripping or supporting engagement with the lower portions of the bowling pins 40, beneath their regions of greatest diameter, so that the bowling pins cannot slide through the receptacles 39 and be discharged therefrom until the jaw members have been rocked about their pivots I4 to assume the pinreleasing positions disclosed in Fig. 5.

To prevent undue rocking movement of the jaw` members, particularly during the time when the carrier frame is being lowered, and the extensions 41 of said jaw members, have been removed from contact with the screws 48, the brackets 43, as shown in Fig. 6', are provided with registering openings 49 in which are slidably received friction-exerting plungers 50. The inner ends of these plungers engage with the side surfaces of the jaw extensions 41 and are held in frictional contact therewith by means of coil springs indicated at 5i, the outer ends of these springs engag-ing with removable plugs 52 threaded in the outer ends of the openings 49.

The carrier frame is provided with openings for the slidable receptionV of vertical studs 53 which project upwardly from the jaw-releasing frame 54. The upper ends of the vstuds 53 are threaded for the reception of adjusting and locking nuts 55 which regulate the spacing between the carrier frame 31 and thejaw releasing frame 54. The under surface of-.the frame 54 may be provided with rubber or other resilient strips 56 which engagel with the bowling surface of the associated alley when the carrier frame is in, its lowered4 position. The jaw members 4'5 at their lower ends are formed with laterally ldirected outwardly projecting lugs 511 the latter being provided with threaded bores for the reception of threaded studsl 58- carried by brackets 59 in whichu are' mounted rollers 69, the latter being disposed in; outwardly `oiiset relation with respect to the vertical planes passing through the fulcrums it of said jaw members.

' As shown in Fig. 4, when the carrier frame is in` its elevated position, the rollers 69 are spaced from the upper surfaces ofthe frame Erl. However, when the carrier frame is lowered, as in Fig. 5, the frame 54 contacts the. alley surface and as thecarrier' frame continues toV descend, the rollers 60 contact the upper surface of framev, causing 'the jaw members to be moved outwardly againstthe frictional pressure exerted thereon by the spring actuated plungers 50. The spreading of. the lower ends ofv the jaw members permits the bowling pins to drop vertically, passing through openings 6l provided in the frame 54 so that the bases of the pins engage the bowling alley` surface. This. dropping of the pins takes place through a short distance and the pins are stabilized by the receptacles 39, so that when the 'carrier frame is subsequently elevated, the pins will be left in rm and steady standing positions on the Ialley surface.

Following the deposit of pins in this manner, the carrier frame is again elevated until the jaw extensionsr 41 contact the screws 53, which action returns the jaw members to their positions of pin support relative to the receptacles 39. The bed plate and carrier frame are then moved rearwardly to assume the full line position' disclosed iii liig';` 2. When in this position, the receptacles may be lled with pins, either by automatic mechanism or manually. When so retracted, the

i carrier frame is disposed over a pivotally mounted `back stop 62 arranged toward the rear of the pit 4. The back stop terminates above the floor 63 of the pit e so that bowling pins positioned on the upper run of the conveyor may be advanced by the latter beneath the back stop and delivered to a transversely movable conveyor 64 forming a part of an automatic elevator, not shown, by means oi which the pins may be deposited in the receptacles 39. The spacing of the back stop 62 from the door @3 is insuiiicient to permit of the passage of a bowling ball 65 beneath the back stop, so that when a bowling ball strikes the back stop, the swinging movement of the latter maybe used to actuate automatic control mechanism, as delined in my prior application.

In view of the foregoing, it will be seen that the present invention provides an automatic bowling pin-setting or spotting mechanism by means of which the bowling pins may be deposited in a group on the iioor of a bowling alley, the pins when so deposited remaining in xed standing positions and properly spaced relative order. While the mechanism may be actuated manually, its nature is such as to readily lend itself to further automatic systems and for which it has been expressly designed.

I claim:

1. Pin-positioning apparatus for bowling alleys comprising a bed plate, means for supporting said plate in a substantially horizontal plane above the pin-receiving zone of the associ-ated alley, a vertically movable carrier frame arranged below said bed plate and adapted to be supported serving to retain pins in vertical order withinv said frame when the latter occupies relatively elevated positions, means operative automatically upon the lowering of said frame into pin-depositing relationship with said zone and the engagementof said frame therewith to move said devices to pin-releasing positions, whereby to deposit the pins on the surfaces of said alley zone, and means for moving said bed plate and carrier frame bodily horizontally above and in a direction longitudinal of the associated alley.

2. Pin-positioning apparatus for bowling alleys comprising a bed plate, means for supporting said plate for guided movement in a substantially horizontal plane above the pin-receiving Azone of the associated alley from pin-receiving to pinlowering and discharging positions, a vertically movable carrier frame arranged below said bed plate and adapted to be supported thereby, flexible motor-actuated means carried by said bed plate for imparting raising and lowering movement to said frame, rigid guide means cooperative with said plate and frame for confining the latter tomovement in predetermined vertical planes, movable pin-Supporting devices carried by said frame, said devices serving to retain pins in vertical order within said frame when the latter occupies relatively elevated positions, and` means operative automatically upon the lowering of said frame into pin-depositing relationship with said zone and the engagement of said frame therewith to move said devices to pin-releasing positions, whereby to deposit the pins on the surfaces of said alley zone.

3. In apparatus for positioning pins on bowling alleys, ya supporting structure arranged above the pin-receiving zone of an associated bowling alley, a carrier frame suspended from said supporting structure for vertical movement toward and away from said Zone, a plurality of vertically positioned tubular pin-receiving receptacles rigidly supported by said frame, pivotally movable pingripping jaws supported by said frame and operative when the latter occupies relatively elevated positions above said zone to grip the lower portions of bowlingpins positioned in said receptacles to retain said pins therein, adjustable means carried by said supporting structure and engageable with said jaws when said frame is in its fully elevated position to hold said jaws in their pin-supporting positions, mechanism for lowering said carrier frame and the means supported thereon toward said alley zone for spotting said pins thereon, means mounted on said carrier frame engaging said jaws for holding the latter against movement toward fully opened pinreleasing positions during continued downward movement of said carrier frame toward s-aid alley zone, a movable tripping device carried by said frame for engagement with said alley Zone, and means on said jaws coacting with said device for overcoming the jaw-holding action of said lastnamed means and moving said jaws from said held position to fully opened position to release said pins for placement on said alley zone as a result of the movement of said frame to its lowermost position relative to said alley Zone.

ci. In apparatus for positioning pins on bowling alleys, a supporting structure arranged above the pin-receiving zone oi an associated bowling alley, a carrier frame suspended from said supporting 7, structure for vertical movement toward and away from said zone, -a plurality of vertically positioned tubular pin-receiving receptacles rigidly 4supported by said frame, pivotally movable pingripping jaws supported by said frame and. operative when the latter occupies relatively elevated positions above said zone to grip the lower' portions of bowling pins positioned in said receptacles to retain said pins therein, adjustable means carried by said supporting structure and engageable with said jaws when said frame is in its fully elevated position to hold said jaws in their pin-supporting positions, mechanism for lowering said carrier frame and the means supported thereon toward said alley Zone for spotting said pins thereon, means mounted on said carrier frame engaging said jaws forV holding the latter against movement to fully opened position during continued downward movement of said carrier frame toward said alley zone, a movable tripping device carried by said frame for engagement with said alley zone, means on said jaws coacting with said device for moving said held jaws to fully opened position to release said pins for placement on said lalley as a result of the movement of said frame to its lowermost position with respect to said alley zone, the jaw engaging means of said carrier frame being formed to include resiliently movable means engageable with said jaws for maintaining the latter against movement until positively actuated.

5. `Mechanical pin-setting mechanism for bowling alleys comprising a horizontally positioned bed frame, means for supporting said frame in a substantially horizontal plane for movement longitudinally with respect to and above a pinreceiving zone of a, bowling alley, a vertically movable carrier frame arranged below said bed frame and supported thereby, a motor positioned on said bed frame, a shaft rotatably mounted on said bed frame, means actuated by said motor for imparting rotary movement to said shaft, sprockets rotatable with said shaft, spaced chains passing around said sprockets and secured atone end thereto, the opposite ends of said chains being connected with said carrier frame, whereby rotation of said shaft imparts raising Iand lowering movement to said carrier frame, movable pingripping jaws supported by said carrier frame in predetermined spaced order, the aforesaid mechanism operable to lower said carrier frame and the means supported thereon toward said alley'zone for spotting said pins thereon, means mounted on said carrier frame and engaging said jaws for holding the latter `against movement to fully opened position during continued downward movement of said carrier frame toward said alley zone, a movable tripping device carried'by said frame for engagement with said alley zone, and

.means on said jaws coacting with said device for overcoming the jaw-holding action of said lastnamed means and moving said jaws from'said held position to fully opened position to'rel'ease said pins for placement on said alley zoneV as a result of the movement of said frame to its low'- ermost position relative to said alley zone.

SANDERS A. FRYE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 853,212 Anderson May 14, 1907 996,250 Hughes June'2'7, 1911 1,122,622 McFarland Dec. 29, 1914 1,290,063 Broome Jan. '7, 1919 1,544,928 Olsen July '7, 1925 2,208,605 Schmidt July 23, 1940 2,300,802 Parra etal Nov. 3, 1942 2,380,601 Luth et al July 31, 1945 

